State Rep. John Boccieri (D-Poland) today decried the passage of the Republican federal bill to gut the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As a congressman in 2009, Rep. Boccieri voted for the ACA, and says that Thursday’s move threatens access to affordable healthcare for about one-million Ohioans who gained coverage under the law and the state’s 2014 Medicaid expansion.

“This is an irresponsible decision that gambles the health of almost one-million Ohioans for political points,” said Boccieri. “The president and Republican majority in Congress are blind to the devastating impacts this will have for working people and families who struggle with daily pain and financial stress. This is a huge setback for our state.”

The Republican-backed bill would roll back Medicaid expansion in Ohio and other states that elected to provide coverage to individuals at or below 138 percent of the poverty level. Premiums are expected to rise for those with pre-existing conditions, who will no longer be guaranteed coverage under the legislation. In addition, the bill scraps the income-based insurance tax credits and subsidies in the ACA and replaces them with age-based tax credits, which means older and lower-income Americans could experience higher healthcare costs.

The Republican bill could also cause schools in Ohio to lose millions of dollars that fund special education and behavioral services, according to the Plain Dealer.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to receive some pushback from moderate Republicans.

State Reps. John Boccieri (D-Poland), Mike O’Brien (D-Warren), Glenn W. Holmes (D-Girard) and Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown) today applauded the Ohio House for unanimously passing Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 8, which calls on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (USMDA) to select Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center as the preferred site for a future east coast Missile Defense system. MDA, a sub-agency of the Department of Defense (DOD), announced its consideration of Camp Ravenna among two other locations for a potential future deployment of additional ground-based interceptors for homeland defense.